No1Dazy's Journal

Doesn't mean we should have airs above the ground! I took a lesson with Harald Bauer yesterday (one of the head riders at the Spanish Riding School), and we spent most of the canter work on the hind legs. He's a firm believer in the "deep and round" philosophy, and my mare did not want to do the flying change "deep." She put on quite a show, I'm afraid. She doesn't like to feel constricted, and he took away my giving rein and made me keep my hand fixed. She didn't like that...

No1Dazy

It's been a while since I tracked the progression of things.

Bella and I started going to a new instructor in April, and at the same time I got her acupuncture for her back. Both of these things have made a HUGE difference in the flying change. Bobbie (new instructor) is having us take the change out of a much free-er canter, and it's helping. We've also unblocked her shoulders, and her brain has been really good. No standing on the hind legs at ALL since our first lesson with...

No1Dazy

Well, we spent 3 hours sacking my young horse out last Sunday. I actually went with the intention of riding her, but she was being so spooky that I decided she needed a good sacking out. She is a serious HARD HEAD!

She got over mostly everything pretty quickly, with the exception of the tarp. She never did truly give in to it, she just exhausted herself...so, I went with immersion therapy--I hung tarps on the two open sides of her stall. She spent HOURS standing in the corner,...

No1Dazy

Well, YAY! My mare is finally getting her brain wrapped around the change. She's not leaping and jumping anymore, and I'm SO pleased. They're not always clean, but it's coming and I have hope now. We're actually GETTING good quarter and half pirouettes, which is SUPPOSED to be harder than flying changes, but I disagree.

The other good news is that my 3 year old is trotting off the lunge line now. We even have power steering--she's doing well for only her second time off the...

No1Dazy

We went to watch the Harald Bauer clinic in Austin this weekend. He's one of the head riders for the Spanish Riding School in Vienna.

It's a good thing it was in an indoor ring, because everything here is under water. (I haven't gotten to ride since Thursday, and it's looking like it's going to be next weekend before our ring clears up, IF it stops raining!) The fee was $175/ride, so I audited first before committing to a lesson when I'd never seen him teach. He was good, but I'm...

No1Dazy